Eight dead bodies are being dug up in Philadelphia with the hopes of being finally identified.
Operation RIP, short for Remains Identification Project, is taking place throught the week in a collaboration between the city’s police department, medical examiners, and FBI.
Investigators are digging up the unidentified murder victims in the Potter’s Field in the Parkwood section of the city, about 15 miles north of Center City. Then, they’ll use DNA testing and Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy techniques, attempting to solve decades-long cold cases using technology that wasn’t available at the time of the people’s deaths.
“We’re trying to get to a close relative,” said Ryan Gallagher, Assistant Director of the Philadelphia Police Department’s Office of Forensics Science. “Once we get to a close relative, detectives can go out and they can interview family members to see if they have a loved one that’s unidentified or they don’t know about.”
Some of the bodies go back as far as 1962, according to 6 ABC. A similar undertaking occurred in 2018, when seven previously unidentified bodies were correctly identified.
A Potter’s Field is a public burial ground for unclaimed bodies or those who cannot afford a proper burial. Not everyone buried there is unknown, though many have never were identified. The concept of a Potter’s Field traces its roots back to the Bible as burials of strangers, criminals, and the poor.
If the thought of public land being home to skeletal remains is making you squeamish, then you’ll hate to discover that your favorite park could very well be home to bodies. New York’s iconic Washington Square Park is said to have been filled with 20,000 corpses between 1797 and 1825 after the yellow fever epidemic.
Today, though, many cities have turned to cremation for unclaimed dead bodies.
The post Philly Cops Dig Up 8 Cold Cases in Potter’s Field Hunt appeared first on VICE.
The post Philly Cops Dig Up 8 Cold Cases in Potter’s Field Hunt appeared first on VICE.
